History remembers certain individuals not just for their deeds but for the courage that defined them in the face of adversity. Grace Darling and Grace Bussell, separated by oceans and decades, became legends in their own right for acts of extraordinary bravery at sea.
In 1838, off the stormy coast of England, young Grace Darling risked her life to save stranded survivors of a shipwreck, defying the raging waves in a tiny rowing boat. Half a world away, in 1876, Australian teenager Grace Bussell rode her horse through crashing surf to help rescue dozens from a sinking ship off the Western Australian coast. Both women defied danger, social expectations, and the limitations of their time to become symbols of heroism.
Grace Darling was born on November 24, 1815, in Northumberland, a county in Northeast England adjacent to the Scottish border. She was one of nine children, with four brothers and four sisters.
When she was just a few weeks old, her family moved to Brownsman Island in the Farne Islands, where they lived in a small cottage next to the lighthouse, where her father, William, worked as the lighthouse keeper. The lighthouse wasn’t in a desirable location for guiding ships, and the living conditions were basic.
In 1826, the family relocated to a new lighthouse on Longstone Island, which had better living quarters. However, the new island was less hospitable, so her father often rowed back to Brownsman to tend their old garden and care for the animals. The distance between the islands is about one kilometre. The family lived mainly on the lighthouse’s ground floor in a large room heated by a wood stove. This room served as their living, dining, and cooking space. A spiral staircase led to three bedrooms and the light at the top of the tower.
On the evening of Wednesday, 5th September 1838, the newly built paddle steamer owned by the Dundee & Hull Steam Packet Company left Hull, heading down the Humber estuary towards its home port of Dundee.
It had a crew of 22 men, led by Captain John Humble, an experienced and well-liked seaman. The ship also carried a full load of passengers and various goods, including hardware, textiles, machinery, and boilerplates. The route was one which Captain Humble had taken many times before.
Soon after leaving Spurn Head and entering open water, the wind shifted to the northeast and grew stronger. Heavy rain began to fall by nightfall, and the ship started to roll in the rough seas. Many passengers, confined below deck, became seasick, with some, especially those travelling for the first time, feeling frightened. They would have been even more scared if they had known about the problems below deck.
Not long into the voyage, it was discovered that two of the ship’s boilers were leaking. The Chief Engineer recommended returning to Hull for repairs, but Captain Humble dismissed the suggestion, ordering the engineer to increase the pressure in the remaining boilers instead. Grumbling, the engineer did as told, only to find the situation had worsened. Water was flooding from the leaking boilers, and the pumps couldn’t keep up with the flow. The fires beneath the boilers were at risk of going out, which could cause an explosion if the water level wasn’t maintained. Unfortunately, the situation got even worse—so hot that the stokers had to jump out of the way to avoid scalding, causing the fires to go out entirely. With no fire to power the engines, the ship could barely move, and the wind began to push it off course.
As the wind blew, some passengers ventured out onto the deck, wondering what was delaying the ship and if they would arrive late in Dundee. They were reassured that everything was fine, and they would make up for lost time once the storm passed. However, the storm only got worse. On Thursday, 6th September, the Forfarshire struggled to stay afloat in the gale, rolling violently under the fierce wind. The ship was barely moving, and a leak had developed, making matters worse. Crew members worked desperately, with some passengers even helping pump water to keep the ship from sinking.
The sound of steam hissing from the boilers added to the growing tension, and the ship’s low position in the water, with waves crashing over the side, frightened the passengers. Despite Captain Humble’s reassurances that everything was under control, it was clear to everyone that the situation was becoming more dire.
That evening, the paddle wheels stopped turning altogether. In desperation, Captain Humble ordered the sails to be set, hoping to steer the ship around the dangerous Farne Islands. The wind had pushed the ship dangerously close to the shore, and the islands, with their hidden reefs, were a known danger to ships. The captain tried to steer the ship into the wind to avoid the rocks, but in the darkness and confusion, the lookout misidentified a lighthouse. Instead of the Inner Farne lighthouse, which would have guided the ship safely, he saw the Longstone lighthouse, which was further out to sea, on the opposite side of the islands.
This mistake led the ship straight toward the Big Harcar Reef, one of the most notorious hazards in the area, with a maximum height of one meter above calm sea level. A massive wave lifted the Forfarshire and then slammed it down onto the reef with terrifying force. The impact sent passengers and crew flying across the ship, and cries of "Abandon ship!" rang out. The Second Mate, followed by the First Mate and several crew members, shamefully abandoned the ship by launching the lifeboat, which quickly disappeared into the raging sea.
Meanwhile, the remaining passengers and crew clung desperately to the ship as it was tossed violently on the rocks. The ship’s structure was severely damaged, and soon, the back of the ship broke apart. The half of the ship with most of the passengers was swept away and sank without a trace. The survivors, clinging to the remaining part of the ship, faced the terrifying prospect of being swallowed by the sea at any moment. The storm raged on, with darkness, wind, and rain making the situation even worse.
The Third Mate, taking charge, convinced the survivors to climb down a rope ladder onto the reef, which was now exposed as the tide ebbed. He promised them that at daylight, they would be seen from the lighthouse and that a rescue attempt would be made. The survivors, too stunned to think clearly, followed his advice, hoping that help would come soon.
As the survivors huddled on the cold, rocky reef, they saw the remains of the Forfarshire scattered around them, the ship having broken up completely. Then, Grace Darling, the courageous 23-year-old daughter of the lighthouse keeper, William Darling, spotted them from her bedroom window in the Longstone lighthouse.
William Darling, the keeper of the Longstone Lighthouse on the Farne Islands, was no stranger to storms. However, the weather was particularly fierce on the morning of September 7, 1838. The North Sea was churning, the wind was howling, and visibility was almost nonexistent. Looking out across the water, he noticed something strange on a distant rock.
Grace, his daughter, had sharper eyes than her father. She insisted she could see people clinging to the rock as huge waves crashed over it. She was right. The steamer Forfarshire had sunk nearby the night before, taking most of its passengers with it. A few survivors had found refuge on the rock, but they were stranded and desperately needed help. Grace was horrified at the thought of leaving them there to die.
The only boat available at the lighthouse was her father’s small, flat-bottomed fishing boat. Grace suggested they use it to rescue the survivors. William, however, was skeptical. He pointed out that the boat would be easily swamped in the storm and that he couldn’t manage it alone. But Grace, determined to help, insisted on rowing with him. Reluctantly, her father agreed.
Despite the terrifying conditions, father and daughter launched the boat and navigated the furious seas. It was a feat that amazed seasoned sailors, who knew just how treacherous the North Sea could be. The tiny boat was tossed around like a cork, but somehow, they made it over the 1.2 kilometres to the rock. The nine survivors were stunned to see a boat approaching, even more so when they realized one of the rowers was a young woman.
With the boat dangerously low in the water, Grace and her father managed to get most survivors back to the lighthouse. Grace stayed with her mother to care for the rescued while her father returned to the rock with the help of the survivors to retrieve the remaining few. Miraculously, they were all saved.
But it was too late for many. The remains of the Forfarshire, shattered by the storm, lay in pieces, and 38 souls perished in the disaster, their bodies lost to the sea.
Grace quickly became a living legend because of her bravery. She was awarded a gold medal by the Royal Humane Society for her actions, along with William. Despite her newfound fame, Grace remained humble and unaffected by the attention, continuing to live a simple life. Tragically, she died of tuberculosis at the age of 27, just four years after her heroic rescue mission.
In December 1876, the steamship Georgette was traveling down the coast of Western Australia from Perth towards Albany with 58 passengers and crew, along with a timber cargo. The ship began to leak shortly after leaving Fremantle, Perth’s Port. When the pumps failed, and seawater flooded the engine room, the captain had no choice but to head for the shore. Battling high seas, the ship ran aground near Calgardup Bay, about 10 kilometres south of the mouth of the Margaret River.
Attempts to launch lifeboats ended in disaster—one capsized, drowning two women and five children. Four crew members managed to bring some survivors to shore, but most onboard were still in grave danger.
Sam Isaacs, a part African American and part Aboriginal stockman working for the Bussell family near Margaret River, spotted the struggling ship from the shore. Realizing the situation's urgency, he rode 20 kilometres to the Bussell homestead to raise the alarm. Sixteen-year-old Grace Bussell, determined to help, quickly saddled her horse and rode toward the scene alongside Sam.
When they arrived, waves battered the Georgette, and terrified passengers clung to the wreck. Without hesitation, Grace and Sam plunged their horses into the churning surf. Grace’s horse stumbled on a rope that had been run from the ship to the shore, nearly throwing her into the water, but she pressed on. One by one, she and Sam brought survivors back to shore. Passengers clung to the horses’ manes, saddles, and stirrups as the rescuers made trip after trip through the breakers.
Over four exhausting hours, Grace and Sam managed to save all of the ship’s surviving passengers. Grace, nearly collapsing from the effort, rode home to fetch further help. Her father organized a rescue party to bring the survivors back to the Bussell homestead, where Grace’s mother, Ellen, cared for them.
Grace Bussell was celebrated as a national heroine, earning the title "The Grace Darling of the West." She received a silver medal from the Royal Humane Society and a gold watch from the Board of Trade. Sam Isaacs was also honoured for his bravery with a bronze medal, which was later replaced by a silver medal. Sam was also awarded a grant of land, where he raised a family. Grace married Frederick Drake-Brockman, who later became Surveyor General of Western Australia. She lived a long and accomplished life, passing away at 75. Sam Isaacs, whose quick actions had sparked the rescue, is also remembered as a key figure in one of Australia’s most remarkable stories of courage and compassion Grace Bussell Drake-Brockman died in 1935, at the age of 75, in Guildford, a suburb of Perth.
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